By Formalizing Their Capability Dedicated to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Can Companies Stop Contributing to Climate Change While Sustaining Their Profitability? How Relevant Is It, and How Should this Capability Be from Economic, Organizational, and Operational Views?
Year: 2024
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Tackling climate change implies reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, most companies need to be profitable to continue to exist. Facing these two corporate survival rules from the present world, this thesis aims to provide guidance to companies for facing these imperatives, by exploring answers to the following question: By formalizing their capability dedicated to reducing GHG emissions, can companies stop contributing to climate change while sustaining their profitability? How relevant is it, and how should this capability be from economic, organizational, and operational views? Rooting my qualitative approach in the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and several of its extensions (Natural RBV, Dynamic RBV, dynamic capabilities framework, and knowledge-based theory of organizational capability), I investigated through twelve individual semi-structured interviews of professionals (primarily active in Germany). Through the application of the Gioia Methodology, my empirical findings outlined three major interacting dimensions, i.e., a sustainable development strategy, processes and asset positions, as well as the capability lifecycle. A shared vision within the company appeared as a potential success factor for combining corporate GHG emissions reduction and profitability. Yet, outlining the importance of collaboration between companies and stakeholders, the exploitation of my findings pointed out a potential limit of the RBV.
Authors: Aubert, Julien, Technische Universität München
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7028505416